July 2012
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Take-Two Q1 Financials - GTA V 'TBA'
The Take-Two Interactive Q1 financials are out. However, all eyes were on a release window for Grand Theft Auto V. Unfortunately, it remains ‘TBA’.
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The investor call revealed that Grand Theft Auto V is making “substantial progress” and is “in full development” as we’d hoped! When asked about the release date for the game, Strauss Zelnick said...
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EA Announce 1.3m BF3 Premium Users in Q1...
In EA’s Q1 financial results, the company revealed that 1.3 million Battlefield 3 Premium subscriptions were sold. There was other good news across the board too.
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The news is sure to put a smile on the faces of EA executives across the globe. Here are the other key facts revealed by EA regarding their franchises and finances:
Star Wars: The Old Republic is set to transition into...
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Report: Bethesda Gain S.T.A.L.K.E.R Publishing...
Once again a report has surfaced claiming that Bethesda has been given publishing rights for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series.
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The report comes from the Russian blogger, Sergey Galyonkin. He claims that the ownership over the S.T.A.L.K.E.R IP remains with the GSC Gameworld’s Sergei Grigorovich. However, Bethesda will be able to publish and develop future titles using it’s own tech.
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GTA III Misses PSN Release
After being slated for July 31st, the PSN version of Grand Theft Auto III did not appear on the store update.
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Much to the disappointment of many fans, the PS2 classic was pulled from this week’s update. With no announcement that the game was going to miss it’s release, it’s certainly mysterious.
The PlayStation Blog commented on the matter with the following...
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“I think it kind of defeats the purpose of cloud gaming to limit it to a subset...”
– Bruce Grove of OnLive UK talking to EDGE about Sony’s acquisition of Gaikai.
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FIFA Companion App Launching With FIFA 13
EA Sports have announced that the companion app for FIFA 13 will be available at launch for iOS.
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Announced back at E3, the companion app will allow players to interact with the EA Sports Football Club community. It will also allow for the FIFA Ultimate Team experience to be omnipresent. This means that you will be able to make bids on auctions for players.
The app will launch on iOS...
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SEGA Back In Black
SEGA have returned to profit in Q2 following a restructuring of the company.
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A report from GI.biz states that SEGA had revenues of ¥69.9 billion ($893m/£569m) in the Q2 (ending June 30 2012), a 7.1% rise compared to Q2 2011. Profits were ¥2.5 billion ($32m/£20m), compared to a ¥2.2 billion loss posted in Q2 last year.
With the company citing a fall in demand for packaged...
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UPlay Security Flaw Explained
The UPlay security flaw which was patched up by Ubisoft yesterday has been explained by a coding error.
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A Ubisoft representative speaking to Kotaku said the following:
“The Uplay application has never included a rootkit. The issue was from a browser plug-in that Uplay PC utilizes which suffered from a coding error that allowed unintended access to systems usually used by Ubisoft...
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“It’s not done. We never definitely retire any franchise.”
– Shuhei Yoshida of Sony talking to OPM about SOCOM.
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Skyrim 1.7 on Steam - Consoles Soon
The 1.7 patch for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim has been released on Steam. It is set to hit consoles shortly.
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The official BethBlog stated that the console patch was being submitted to the manufacturers this week. Once approved, it will be released. Here are the fixes included in the patch:
Update 1.7 (all platforms unless specified)
Bug Fixes
General memory and stability...
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Square Enix Supporting Ouya
Square Enix have pledged their support for the Ouya console by announcing that Final Fantasy III will launch for the system.
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The game has already been ported to the Android platform for mobile releases. This will make it easy for Square to bring Final Fantasy III to the Android based Ouya console. Square have also pledged support for the console beyond it’s launch.
Final Fantasy...
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“We’re all gamers as well and we appreciate the interest of those [hardcore]...”
– Katsuya Eguchi of Nintendo talking to Gameplanet about the Wii U Pro Controller
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The Walking Dead Ep. 1 & 2 Free on US PS+
If you are a US PlayStation Plus subscriber you’re in for a treat. The Walking Dead Episodes 1 and 2 are set to be free.
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The two episodes of the series will be free from Telltale with the August 7th PlayStation Store update. The five episode series can be bought normally with a $25 pass. Alternatively, an episode can be bought individually for $4.99. This means that you’ll...
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3DS XL Sells Well in Japan
The launch of the Nintendo 3DS XL in Japan has been a resounding success, selling nearly 200,000 units in two days.
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A report from Famitsu stated that 193,000 systems had been sold, as well as 430,000 copies the newly released, New Super Mario Bros. 2. No figures for the figures in Europe and the US have been released by Nintendo.
The launch of the hardware revision has been a success,...
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“I am not interested in giving them ‘fun’, I want to give them...”
– David Cage talking to EDGE about Beyond: Two Souls
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“I left precisely when they stopped making epic, triple-As, which was Half-Life...”
– Viktor Antonov talking to EuroGamer about why he left Valve.
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UPlay Security Flaw Identified
A Google security engineer has identified a significant security flaw in Ubisoft’s UPlay DRM system. Luckily, Ubisoft are on the case.
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A rootkit has been discovered which could potentially leave your PC vulnerable to infiltration. This means that once a plug-in is downloaded for UPlay, your files could be accessible and your PC hijacked. This was identified by Tavis Ormandy with...
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PEGI Becomes UK Law
The PEGI system of rating games has now been entered into the UK law.
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The PEGI age ratings have now become law. This means that it will be illegal for retailers to sell to anyone under the age of the recommendation on the game carrying the rating. This has replaced the old BBFC ratings on games.
Penalties for selling below the recommended age could be £5,000 all the way up to six years...
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Report: Microsoft Surface Coming October 26th
The official Microsoft tablet, Surface, has been given a release date - October 26th 2012.
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The tablet will launch on the same date as the new Windows OS, Windows 8 according to VentureBeat.
Microsoft also mentioned the following in a report, suggesting the same release date:
“The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012....
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Dead Stop Trademarked
According to Siliconera, the developers behind Dead Island, Techland, have trademarked something called Dead Stop.
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The trademark described the game as the following:
“entertainment services and providing an online game via an application for mobile phones and other electronic apparatus”
This could be one of two things in my opinion. It could be a new mobile game called...
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“When asked what the MGS series is to you, I once responded, ‘It’s like the...”
– Hideo Kojima (via twitter)
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London 2012 Breaks LEGO Batman 2
London 2012: The Official Video Game has become the bane of LEGO Batman 2’s life (pardon the horrific pun), knocking it off the UK top spot.
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It seems like Olympic fever has swept British gamers. The official Olympics video game has become a chart topper, ending LEGO Batman 2’s lengthy spell at the top. Here are the top 40 from UKIE.
London 2012: The Official Video Game –...
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“I don’t know if freemium gets to console but I do know that humans like free...”
– Nick Earl of EA talking to MCV about F2P/Freemium.
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The Word of Notch: Gender in Minecraft →
notch:
[Keep in mind I am no longer the lead developer on Minecraft, Jens is. This post is about what I thought about back when I was making it]
If it wasn’t for the fact that the default Minecraft character is referred to as “Minecraft Guy” and that I once jokingly answered “Steve?” when asked what…
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Square Enix Gamescom Lineup
Square Enix have confirmed their Gamescom lineup. Check it out below the break.
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Straight from the company’s press release:
HD Consoles and PC Lineup FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn – Set in the realm of Eorzea, after the devastating attacks from the Garlean Empire, FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn presents an adventure for players around the world to undertake epic quests...
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Update: Huge PS All Stars Battle Royale Leak
With the mammoth leak taking place earlier, more concrete details have been added for PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale.
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It is now clear that the leaks have come from files within the beta for the fighting game. The files have the following format for their names.
[date] [time] [six digit number] display_level_[stage name].ctxr.
Many of these files were spotted and it has now...
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Rumour: Wii U Includes 3D
According to TheGamerScene, the Nintendo Wii U will support 3D, but not at launch.
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The site claims it has heard news that the console will support “3D in 1080p and 60 fps.” However, the Wii U Gamepad will not support 3D on it’s display and will only be a controller when 3D is enabled. The site also states that there will be no launch games with the feature.
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Kojima Productions Explain MGS The Twin Snakes...
Kojima Productions have explained the absence of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes from the Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection.
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The remake of the original Metal Gear Solid with updated graphics and gameplay features never made it into the HD collection which released not so long ago. The game released exclusively on Gamecube. Here is the explanation as to why it never made it:
That was a...
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Huge PS All Stars Battle Royale Leak
A number of significant leaks of PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale have surfaced on the internet today. There have been reveals of characters, stages, minions, items and other miscellaneous details.
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Originally being posted on Reddit by someone claiming to have obtained the images from a “friend of a friend”, a number of characters and stages have leaked. Other leaks have...
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“The game is about what is the cost of becoming a hero. What is the personal toll...”
– Mark Thompson of Ubisoft talking to Polygon about Far Cry 3.
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Disney Princesses Coming to LBP
Apart of the on-going collaboration between Disney and the LittleBigPlanet series, princesses from the Disney universe are set to arrive soon.
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Announced over on the PlayStation Blog, there will be eight of Disney’s princesses coming to the LittleBig universe in the form of costume packs. Belle, Aurora, Tiana, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jasmine, Snow White and Ariel will all be arriving...
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BF3 Facebook Ads Bring 440% Return
A facebook public investor call has revealed that EA’s use of facebook ads for Battlefield 3 gave huge returns.
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The campaign by EA to use social media to advertise their new shooter came at a cost of $2.75m according to Sheryl Sandberg of facebook. However, the sales attributed to these ads came in at $12.1m, a return of 440%.
“Electronic Arts recently spent $2.75 million...
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“On Monday I’ll be making a big announcement regarding E3 2013, so be sure...”
– Rich Taylor of ESA. (via twitter)
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OnLive Coming to Ouya
It has been announced that OnLive will be available on the Ouya console from launch.
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The Android based console will allow players to stream games from their OnLive accounts via an OnLive app. It will be as simple as logging in and accessing your library of games to play through the Ouya console.
After smashing the Kickstarter target of $950,000 by over 5 times, the Ouya system is...
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Rumour: Wii U Costs $299
According to a rumour posted over at GameTrailers, the Nintendo Wii U will retail at $299.
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The price of $299.99 seems realistic at this point given the Nintendo Wii’s launch price of $249.99. Whilst there has been no official word from Nintendo on a price or even a release date, the console is expected in November.
Is $299.99 too much in the current market for a next-gen system...
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“We have not announced Dawnguard for any other platform, nor given a timeline for...”
– Pete Hines of Bethesda. (via twitter)
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GTA 3 Coming to PSN July 31st
It has been announced that Grand Theft Auto III will release on the PlayStation Network on July 31st.
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The July 31st date is for the US PSN, as revealed by the PlayStation Blogcast. The game is a PS2 Classic, not an HD classic. Unfortunately, this means there will be no trophies or no HD textures.
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Apple Patent Game Controller
Whilst it’s only a patent application, it’s worth reporting when it’s a company like Apple. The tech giants have patented their own console games controller.
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Looking a lot like the Dualshock controller for the PlayStation, the controller’s patent document lies here. The plans state that the controller will be compatible with existing iOS devices and Apple TV.
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THPS HD Sells 120k in First XBL Week
The release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD has led to the sale of 120,000 copies of the game on Xbox Live after week one.
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Speaking with Gamasutra, the folks at Robomodo confirmed the news. The game is yet to release on the PlayStation Network or PC. Given the impressive sales in it’s first week on one platform, the team should feel excited.
Josh Tsui of Robomodo thanked the...
